


Time Away From Dean

by smellslikesalvation



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:17:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smellslikesalvation/pseuds/smellslikesalvation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This, right now, hurt more than anything Naomi had ever done to him before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Away From Dean

This, right now, hurt more than anything Naomi had ever done to him before. He tried clasping his hands over his ears, over his head, curling into a ball in the far reaches of Heaven. Everywhere he went, the prayers followed.

Dean's prayers, to be specific.

Cas wanted nothing more than to fly down and see them. To say his last words to them. Dean continued to swear and curse at the sky on Earth. Cas could see it all, hear it all. And he wanted it to stop. Of course he tried but like Naomi once said, he just couldn't die right.

Sam was dying in Dean's arms.

The poor boy, who wanted nothing more than to live a normal life. Maybe not an apple-pie, wife and two-and-a-half kids type of deal, but normal enough to leave hunting. And look where it got him.

The trials were not the ones to kill him. Sam was stronger than them. Once he purified the demon, the Gates closed. Sam was in a coma for a week afterwards. His body needed time to heal itself, Cas had once told them. Cas had reassured Dean that the blood Sam had been coughing up was the remnants of any impurities in his body, and now that the trials were finished, Sam had nothing to worry about.

That time was almost three years ago.

Three years since the Gates closed. Three years since the last time the brothers saw a demon. Three years since Cas had last talked to them.

You get your ass down here, you son of a bitch! Cas smiled through his pain. Dean would be the one to pray like that.

After all that! What the hell, Cas! Cas! Cas!

Cas had to stop listening. Right now. If he listened any more-

He had to try one more time, one last time.

Standing up, he was ready. The white surrounding him blurred into darker colors, which then turned into tangible shapes. He could see Dean, Sam in his arms, bleeding from his stomach. Several large gash marks scratched his shirt and covered it in blood. Cas started to reach forward, call out to Dean, when something started to pull at him.

"Dean!" He yelled out, trying desperately to resist the tug.

The hunter whipped his head towards the sound of the angel's voice. "Cas? You're here?"

Cas almost faded away, but managed to pull himself back. "I'm being pulled back. Heaven is keeping me there. I've tried reach-" Once again, Cas flickered. "I'm trying, Dean. But I don't think-"

Dean started to pull Sam towards the angel. "It's just a regular wound. Just, please heal him."

Cas struggled with all his might. It felt like a hook in his midsection, and it was as if he was trying to pull a boat behind him. But he managed. With two fingers, Cas reached out.

And then he was back in Heaven.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cas wasn't allowed to see anything. Bright white light surrounded his vision. All prayers to him were cut off. He knew because he could hear a prayer start, just never finish.

He presumed Dean buried Sam. He could never burn Sam, similar to how Sam couldn't burn Dean after Dean was ripped apart by hellhounds.

He wasn't allowed back on Earth for many more years. They didn't allow him to keep track. It could have been hundreds, maybe thousands by the time he may be granted the permission to go back. Dean would be long gone, hopefully left hunting to settle down with a family.

But Cas knew Dean. No matter how hard he tried, Dean was a hunter through and through. A normal life was not what he signed up for.

"I want to see Dean. One last time before he dies. Please."

Everything stayed silent.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cas was kneeling. On what, he didn't care. It didn't matter. He had been in Heaven for far too long for him to even entertain the possibility of seeing Dean alive again.

But there was a nagging feeling that Dean was not dead. That he was alive and well. Which kept Cas in a partially sane state of mind.

His eyes were closed. The usual light around him died down, but he didn't care. He knew where he was.

"Cas?" A meek voice spoke up.

Cas opened his eyes, but didn't move. The ground underneath him was tile. He was in a chair, in a room with beeping monitors.

"Cas? Is that you?" The voice was so heart-breakingly familiar, Cas didn't want to look up. He knew where he was, and if he saw who was on that bed-

"Please, look at me." His voice was dry and scratchy. Like he was parched and hadn't had a drink in years.

Slowly, Cas lifted his gaze from the floor to the piercing green eyes. Dean's breath caught in his throat. "D-Dean?" Cas immediately stood up, but froze again. He didn't want to waste this opportunity.

"Son of a bitch."

Now that Cas was aware of his surroundings, he noticed a few things. Dean had gray hair. Not a full head, but a fair few on the sides. His hands were shaking. His breath was shallow and he kept gulping multiple times in a row. His eyes were still bright and full of life, even as the rest of his body was failing.

Cas took one step forward. "Dean," he repeated, like he couldn't believe this was happening. Another step. His brows furrowed. "When was the last time I saw you?"

Dean frowned, but didn't break eye contact. "Almost twenty-five years ago." He gulped. "When Sammy died," Dean choked out. Even now, it still hurt him to talk about.

"Dean, I'm sorry." Cas took another step forward.

"Don't be," Dean said with a wave of a hand. "Wasn't your fault. Was that goddamn werewolf's fault."

The next step forward brought Cas to the edge of Dean's hospital bed. Tubes ran into him through needles, liquid being fed through. Dean's hands trembled less now.

"Heaven-" Cas cut himself off. He really didn't want to be forced back now. It was the longest he'd been on Earth in, well, twenty-five years.

Dean didn't force him to continue. And for that, Cas was glad. "I'm dying, Cas."

And for the first time ever, a tear slid down Cas' cheek. Dean reached up to wipe it away. "What can I do?" Cas forced out.

Dean chuckled. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." He started picking at a thread on the blanket. The shaking was bothering Cas the most. So he decided to do something about it. Cas reached over and took Dean's hands.

He could still feel them shaking, and they were cold and clammy. But nothing could be done at the time, so Cas rubbed circles with his thumbs on the back of Dean's hands.

"Cas." Cas didn't look up. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course, Dean."

Dean took his hands away to sit up, then held his hands out, smiling all the while. Cas smiled back and took Dean's hands.

"So, I'm bored, waiting to die and everything, and since I'm waiting on someone else at the moment, you are going to sit down and listen to an old man ramble."

Cas chuckled. The chair moved from its spot across the room to where Cas was waiting. He took a seat and waited.

"To begin our tale, we will need to start with a funeral," Dean began somberly.

Cas leaned forward slightly, still holding Dean's hands, and watched his best friend die.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instead of becoming a beautiful and magnificent place to want to be in, Heaven was a pain in his ass. Dean had been in the middle of speaking when Cas was suddenly sitting on the ground, hands clasped around air. He could still feel the trembling of Dean's hands and see the sparks of life in Dean's eyes.

Which is exactly how Cas wanted to remember him. As a human being. Flaws and all.

Because Cas was a hundred percent certain about one thing: that was the last time he would ever see Dean Winchester alive.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was surprised, really, when he was thrown back on Earth. Cas was standing in front of a small purple house, with a black door and black shutters.

He walked up to the door, and knocked, knowing there was a reason for all this. Whatever, whoever, opened that door was going to cause him pain.

Cas stepped back as the door opened to reveal a beautiful young woman. She looked around thirty or so, with dirty blonde hair and the most stunning green eyes.

"Castiel?" The woman asked, and she had tears in her eyes. She closed the distance between them, and Cas was slightly worried she was going to hug him, but she stopped herself, instead placing a hand on his upper arm.

"Who are you?" He asked, and the woman laughed.

"My dad told me you were coming. He didn't know when, but he was sure as hell you would be." The woman motioned with her hand to follow him inside, and Cas was close to just walking away.

He knew who her dad was. He was the bravest man Cas ever knew. He was the Righteous man, Michael's vessel, destroyer of Fate.

The woman disappeared inside the house. Another voice called out, "Hon? Who was that?" A man came into the room, holding a glass of iced tea, and he froze.

"Hello, my name is Castiel," Cas said, hoping the man would recognize the name. He did, and the man relaxed instantaneously.

"Honestly, I thought my wife was crazy. Spewing shit about some angel her dad was in love with."

Cas' heart squeezed tightly in his chest, and his breath stuttered.

"Babe! Did you move our stuff around? I can't find it!" The woman yelled from upstairs. The man smiled apologetically, placed the glass on the counter, and left Cas by himself.

...dad was in love with... in love with... in love...

Cas could only comprehend those words. His world narrowed to a pin point, then expanded to the point where Cas' head was spinning. He closed his eyes, and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Got it!" The woman screeched, then Cas heard two footsteps clamoring their way downstairs. "Got it," she repeated at a more normal tone. She held an envelope in her hand, a thick one.

Cas held out his hand, then held his breath as he unsealed the envelope.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was almost all pictures. Pictures, notes, letters, small poems, titles of books, names of songs and artists written on scrap paper. Random little things that made Cas' heart swell even more.

Because it was all Dean. Dean listened to songs and thought of Cas. Dean read books, and thought Cas might like them. Dean wrote notes to Cas to catch him up if he ever came back.

Cas was getting close to the end, less and less pictures in his hand as he placed the ones he already saw in a neat pile on the coffee table. He sat on the couch, sorting through the contents of the envelope.

At the end of it all was a letter. The woman and her husband left Cas alone as he did this, saying that they would be upstairs if he needs them. He nodded without taking his eyes off yet another picture of Dean and his daughter.

That was another thing. Dean collected pictures of him, the Impala, a new car he got, anything new, Dean took a picture of. There was one with a woman Cas didn't know. He suspected she might be the mother of the woman who owned this house. Cas kept the picture separate, making sure to ask later, if he got the chance.

He unfolded the past piece of paper, eyes widening when he noticed it was very well written, and he didn't know if Dean really wrote this.

You son of a bitch,

I know you didn't just leave me on your own. Heaven is a real bitch, huh? By the way, since I can't exactly operate anything with my hands, my daughter Beth is writing this for me. (Hi, Cas!) If Heaven hadn't have pulled you too early, you would've met her. She's a real peach. (Guilty as charged.)

Anyway, I just wanted to say I don't blame you for Sam's death. Not sure if I talked about that or not last time. But yeah. I don't. You tried so damn hard to, and I fully acknowledge and respect that.

Those years right before you were taken away were hard. With Crowley and Dick and Purgatory and then Naomi. I hated you for so long, and I was so tired of it. I was done hating. I needed to be done hating. It wasn't healthy at all. Hell, have you seen my hair? All you. Well, most you. Little bit of Beth, but she's supposed to do that. (He doesn't mean that. I'm awesome.)

Charlie was pissed she didn't get to meet you. She was this awesome sister-I-never-wanted girl who helped up take down Dick. (I fully accept this. She's the best.) She actually got married. Her name is June. Not the month, don't get confused and over think it. I know you tend to do that.

So I'm probably being mocked from beyond the grave by now. Matt's probably mentioned it by now, if not Beth. Maybe both. Either way, I don't care. Yeah, I love you. There, I said it. Well, I said it, Beth wrote it. Wonder when you'll read this?

Back to it. Wish I could've told you that in person. Really sucks you're not here. And I'm pretty sure Heaven isn't letting up on the leash anytime soon. So this'll have to do.

Cas, one of those pictures shows Beth's mother. Beth knows it, you don't. Beth isn't going to like writing this (I don't), but it needs to be said. Basically and simply, I hooked up with a woman, and nine months later, she shows up with Beth in her arms. I was a wreck. I wasn't ready to settle down and have a family. Hell, even laying here dying, I want to hunt. But Beth's mother insisted we move in together. So I did.

She left a week later. Bags packed and all her stuff gone. I couldn't look for her, Beth was too much to handle. And I wasn't going to drop her off at some orphanage, or church. That's too horrible. So I became a single father.

I'm going to leave it there, because that's all that needs to be said. Beth's there, and Matt too, hopefully.

Okay, I gotta wrap this up. Beth's complaining her hand's cramping and visiting hours are almost over. So I'll leave with this.

I ask one thing. One thing. (Cas, this is my exit. Best of luck, and hope to see you soon! ~Beth Winchester)

Remember me. Love you.

~Dean

After Beth's beautiful handwriting came scrawls that were hard to read. But it made Cas even more emotional because Dean wrote them himself. He probably had an extremely difficult time doing it. It was probably painful, but he just had to get those out. He had to be the one to write them.

"Beth?" Cas called out warily. "Beth!"

She ran down the stairs. He tilted his head at her when she kept her distance. "Dad told me you like your personal space."

Cas laughed, and more drops of tears fell down his face. He wiped them away. "Thank you. For writing this. With him."

She shrugged. "He probably would have killed me, even if he was the one dying."

Cas laughed and took another look at the note and pictures scattered on the table. He picked up a picture of Dean and Beth when she first started walking. Dean had the biggest smile on his face with his arm wide open for Beth to walk into.

He heard Beth sigh behind him. "You loved him," she stated.

Cas laughed. "I'm an idiot. I did. I loved him so much, I didn't even realize it until it was too late."

"I wouldn't say you're an idiot. You're..." She searched for the right word. Then she laughed. "You're Dean."

Cas smiled, and looked at her. "I am." Beth didn't stop smiling, eyes sparkling. "But so are you."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was back in Heaven as Matt talked vehemently about his wife, and some crazy stories of the two of them.

"Why do you do this? What does this accomplish? How does my pain help you?" Cas shouted at the white surrounding him.

He had no clue who he wanted to address, or who he was addressing. God didn't care, or he wouldn't be causing this much pain. It could be Naomi. It could be any number of angels who want his head after trying to become God. Or maybe it was all of Heaven, laughing at his misfortune.

Cas collapsed on the ground, but instead of hitting nothing, he kept falling. He tried to grab onto something, anything, to stop his momentum. But he couldn't.

He was Falling. And he wasn't stopping. He felt his grace ripping away, his wings burning. It was the most intense pain he could imagine. And he's died before.

The funny thing was, he wasn't even sure if he wanted it to stop.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cas Fell two years ago. He didn't know what to do at first, so he searched for Beth and Matt. They helped tremendously.

He worked at a library, putting books on the shelves. He liked the order that came with it. The Dewey Decimal System. He liked the variety of books, genres, authors, styles of writing.

He visited Beth and Matt occasionally. Even though they offered him the extra guest house, Cas stayed in motels. The same Dean stayed in when he and Sam would hunt.

Cas didn't have a car. He stayed in a motel close to the library. Soon he would have enough money to afford the apartment he had been eyeballing a few weeks ago. It was still empty, and by the end of this week, he would finally have enough money.

He got it on the first bid. Cas moved in the next day, filling his place with memories, and hopes. Beth and Matt visited one day, and congratulated him. They gave him some new supplies, insisting it was normal to do so when a friend got a new place.

Beth brought the envelope and pictures, along with some frames.

Cas kept a framed picture of Dean, Beth, and Matt in his bedroom.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, you're so big! How are you, sweetie?"

The little girl squealed, "Cookies!", then tried to wriggle out of her "grandpa's" arms. Cas released her, and watched as she bolted to the kitchen, where he had a plate of cookies already waiting.

"Are you sure it's okay of we leave her here for a few days?" Beth asked as Matt lifted a small pink suitcase into Cas' living room.

Cas smiled. "It's fine. I'm off from work anyways." Cas shrugged, giving the couple a moment to relax. "Plus, Deb's the model child." As he said that and looked at the seven year old, she had chocolate smeared around her mouth and somehow on her forehead.

"Perfect," Matt said, giving his wife a kiss on top of her head, then dragged her over to Deb. "Cas is going to look after you until Thursday, that alright princess?"

"Like a sleepover?" Deb said excitedly, looking at her mom for confirmation.

"Exactly like a sleepover," Beth said, hugging Deb once, then releasing her. "Be good, sweetie."

Matt gave his hug, and left with his wife. Deb jumped up and down once the door closed, and Cas laughed.

"No more cookies. You're already as hyper as possible." Cas took the plate of cookies and covered them in plastic wrap. Deb did her version of puppy eyes, which worked because of her brown eyes she inherited from Matt. Her blonde hair remained intact from Beth, who got it from Dean.

Deb pouted, but got over it quickly when Cas put on cartoons for her to watch. She sat on the immense chair Cas usually sat on, but whenever Deb came over, she claimed that spot for herself.

Cas didn't mind.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cas couldn't remember much from Heaven anymore. His memory could just be going bad, or the memories faded after his Fall.

He forgot if souls could see the living Earth. He couldn't, for the life of him, remember if passed souls in Heaven could see what was going on in the living realm. And it bothered him. It bothered him to the point where Beth, Matt, and Deb all noticed.

"What's wrong, Cas?" Deb asked.

"It's nothing, just-" Cas wasn't sure if this was the time to be breaking this new to a fourteen year old. He looked at Beth and Matt, and Cody, now nine, sat on the floor watching the television.

"Who wants snacks?" Matt asked, and both children raced from their seats following their dad into the kitchen.

Cas shifted in his seat on their couch, and Beth sat next to him. "Cas, what's wrong?"

Cas looked at her, and grimaced. "I can't remember what it's like to be an angel."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. But I can't remember certain elements of being one. I can't remember how to fly, or use my Grace. And I can't, dammit, remember if souls can see Earth."

Beth sat there, contemplating Cas' words. "I see your point. Think about this, though." She reached over and grasped his hand. "You get to experience things no other angel gets the chance to. You can eat, drink, walk, drive on occasion, ride a bike, smell, hear, read. Think about all that." She patted his hand and stood.

Cas followed. "Thank you, Beth. I think I should go home."

Beth smiled, knowing it was useless to argue with a former angel. "Say goodbye to the kids, then you can go."

Deb and Cody gave Cas strange smiles when he hugged them absently and left the house in a daze, muttering under his breath.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deb and Cody sat next to his bed. They had tears in their eyes, and they were each clutching one of Cas' hands. He smiled at them.

"Do not be sad. I am not sad. I am happy."

"How?" Deb said, and for a moment, Cas had no words. Cas was amazed he got to see her turn into this twenty-seven year old veterinary technician. He had tears in his eyes. "How can you be happy?"

And Cody. The junior to be senior in college got his first tattoo a few months ago, when Cas hadn't been in a hospital.

Now, Cas had been to the hospital a few times, but always came back with a relatively clean bill of health. Until recently, when the pain in his midsection got too extreme for him. He was rushed to the emergency room, and that's how they ended up here, two months later.

Cas looked at his ragtag family. They weren't his original family, he hoped he would see them again (not too soon), but this family was good. They were amazingly talented. Deb with her memorization's, Cody with sports and math, Beth with being an overall bad ass, and Matt for being plain awesome. Perfect parents. They helped him when they didn't have to.

They were family. Family of family. The only thing Cas regretted was that Sam couldn't have this.

"I had a family before you all." Cas started as his pseudo-family moved closer to him to listen to his story. "It was large. Brothers and sisters, more than you can imagine. Then, I was ordered to retrieve a soul from Hell..."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cas took a breath, his story almost done being told.

"Cas," Deb asked, eyes wide in waiting, "what happened next."

"Yeah," Cody chimed in. "That's a cliffhanger. You can't stop at 'And Dean talked about himself, being uncharacteristically selfish for once, then-'..." Cody emphasized his point by waving his hands in the air.

Cas laughed. It was pitiful, but Cas owned it. "I was pulled back to Heaven. Very inopportune, I know. But there's a happy ending. I got to spend my life with you all."

"But that can't be the ending," Cody complained.

"You're right, it's not," Cas said, smiling. He could feel his breath weaken, his lungs pushing more air out then taking in. "You see, my family here," he motioned weakly with his hand to the group around his bed, "was the best. But, I get to go home to my real family. Cody, Deb, Matt, Beth, I love you all. I'll miss you."

He couldn't wait much longer. His breathing grew more ragged, and his chest grew too heavy to pull in more air.

Cas smiled, and he slept.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a scary moment, Cas thought he was in Hell. With how corrupt Heaven was at the moment, he wouldn't doubt it.

He heard screaming, lots of it, and then dead silence.

Cas opened his eyes (when did he close them?) and stood up. He saw a warehouse in a short walking distance, but just as he was about to open the door, a man jumped out at him. He was wearing a strange costume, and a red cape.

"Come with me if you want to live," the man said in a deep voice. Cas followed him through town, around empty cars and littered streets.

They ended up in the woods, and a building was just ahead of them. The man pushed on a door with a sigil painted on it. Cas went inside.

It was a bar. Cas was confused, until he turned around. The man took off his mask, and revealed long hair (mullet) and Cas squinted at him.

"You look familiar. Have we met?" Cas asked.

The man chuckled. "Buddy, we haven't met. We, sadly, have heard far too much about you."

Cas tilted his head to the side. He had no clue what to do. He was in someone else's Heaven, somehow.

Someone chuckled from behind him. "Heaven finally let you visit?"

Cas turned, and almost threw up. Dean stood there, young as when Sam did the Trials, with his arms crossed over his chest, and leaning back against the bar.

"Dean?" Cas asked once, and when Dean nodded, Cas threw himself at him, attacking Dean in a bear hug. Dean reciprocated eagerly.

"Jeez Cas. Didn't think you'd miss me that much," Dean joked against Cas' neck.

Cas released him quickly though. Cas looked down as his own hands, noting with a small smile he was also young again. "Do you have a mirror?"

The man from before came back with a small hand-held mirror. Cas grinned at himself, feeling the smooth skin, no wrinkles, no age spots.

"I can't believe it," he said, before looking at Dean. He reached out to feel Dean's hair, short and spiky and blond. He ran his fingers through it a few times.

Dean was looking at him with a smirk. "What's going on, Cas? What's with this 'appreciate thy body' phase?"

Cas now knew Dean hadn't seen. Hadn't seen Cas on Earth with Beth. Hadn't seen him get a job. Hell, Dean didn't even get to see his own grandchildren.

"Dean, where do you think I've been all this time?"

"Uh, locked away like Rapunzel?" Dean said.

Cas actually did understand the reference, since he had to look after Deb and her Disney movies. She loved the princesses and all that.

"Dean," Cas smiled, "I took so long because I've been on Earth."

All the color in Dean's face left. "What?"

Cas nodded. "After I was pulled away from you, I was sent to Beth's many years later. She showed me the envelope," Cas stared at Dean pointedly, "and I met Matt. Then I was pulled back into Heaven, where I was forced to Fall. I've been there ever since."

Dean gulped. "You met Beth?"

Cas smiled warmly. "She's an amazing person. Matt's awesome too. I even met your grandchildren."

"I-" Dean swallowed, "I have grandchildren?"

"At the moment, two. Deb and Cody. And," Cas added when Dean opened his mouth, "they love pie."

Dean's whoop of happiness could be heard across all Heavens.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The man who guided Cas to The Roadhouse (he was learning) was Ash. After meeting Dean, the whole crew came out.

Sam was first. Cas kept apologizing, and Sam laughed it off. "Cas, chill. I know it wasn't your fault."

Next were Jo and Ellen. "Nice to meet you again," Jo said, shaking his hand. "Dean hasn't stopped talking about you since he got here," Ellen said with a very firm handshake and slap on the shoulder.

Then Bobby, who gave Cas a hug and hard pat on the back. "Good to see you again, son."

He met Garth, a hunter he hadn't met properly alive. He had a sock puppet in his pocket. "His name is Mr. Fizzles. He is a very good lie detector, so don't try any funny business," Garth said seriously, and the rest of the group laughed.

Pamela, the poor woman who first laid eyes on Cas before any of them met him. She laughed and gave him a hug anyway. "It's all good. I can see, and you're a fine specimen to look at."

"Alright, alright," Dean interrupted, steering Cas away with his hands on Cas' shoulders, towards two figures in the back. "Cas, I would like to properly introduce you to my parents. Cas, meet John and Mary. Mom, Dad, this is Cas." Dean beamed a smile at Cas.

Mary stepped forward and her smile was infectious. Everyone was so happy here, Cas observed. She held out a slender hand, and when Cas met her hand with his, she closed his hand with hers. "It is wonderful to meet you. Dean has said nothing but good about you."

Cas looked at her. He remembered her as Eve, the mother of monsters, and how dramatically different the real Mary was. She was warm, kind, inviting. Eve was cold, motherly, but evil.

Mary released his hand to hug him. As she let go, John sized him up in front of him.

"Dad, quit it," Dean said, stopping John in his tracks.

"What? I'm not doing anything," John insisted.

Dean sighed. "Yes, you are. And I want you to stop."

Mary leaned in to his ear. "Hon, you are." John gazed at his wife, then softened and nodded.

"Sorry. Don't realize half the things I'm doing." John held out his hand, and Cas shook it with equal, if not more, force. He thought he saw John wince, but it was hidden under a cough. Cas smiled at the two of them, then turned and looked at all of the people here.

"Thank you all for your hospitality," Cas said. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave for a moment." Cas turned on his heel and walked out of the bar. He didn't look at anyone's reaction, not needing to, since he already knew who would be following him.

Cas heard the footsteps following him. But he didn't stop yet. He wanted to be far enough away from The Roadhouse. Cas made sure the footsteps continued behind him, then he glanced back once.

Dean was indeed behind him, and the bar wasn't in sight. Cas paused, and waited for Dean to catch up.

"Cas, what's-"

Nothing was wrong, because Cas was cupping Dean's face, kissing Dean, and Dean was kissing back, only more fervently. His hands grabbed at Cas' waist, pulling him closer. Nothing was going to be wrong for a while. And by a while, Cas meant forever.


End file.
